Abbas and Sharon to hold first summit

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will hold their first summit during the second week of February, a senior Palestinian official said today.

It will be the highest-level contact between the two sides in more than a year and a half.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Mohammed Dahlan, a top Palestinian security official, were scheduled to meet later today to help prepare for the summit, officials said.

The talks are expected to focus on an Israeli military pullback from five West Bank cities.

The summit would cap a series of recent steps by Israel and the Palestinians to end more than four years of fighting and resume peace talks.

Differences over the agenda remain, however, raising questions about what will come out of the gathering.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, the Palestinian Cabinet secretary, said he expects the summit to take place within two weeks.

“The date will be set according to the results of the meetings this week between Palestinian and Israeli officials,” he said.

One Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting would take place on February 8. Israeli officials said nothing has yet been confirmed.

The summit would be the first gathering of Israeli and Palestinian leaders since Sharon and Abbas signed the ”road map” peace plan in June 2003. Abbas was the Palestinian prime minister at the time.

The plan, which aims to establish an independent Palestinian state, quickly fell into disarray amid continued fighting and violations by both sides.

Palestinian officials said Abbas is seeking a wide-ranging agenda for the summit, including a formal declaration of a ceasefire, a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the resumption of road map talks.

Israeli officials said they will consider all Palestinian requests, but want the summit to focus on security issues.

“The road to the road map ends with a halt in violence, terrorism and incitement” said a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He dismissed calls for a formal ceasefire, saying that changes on the ground are far more important than verbal promises. “Without real steps, there can’t be any progress on the political agenda.”

The two sides have already shown signs of progress.

Since his election this month, Abbas has coaxed Palestinian militants into temporarily halting attacks on Israeli targets and deployed thousands of Palestinian police throughout the Gaza Strip to help ensure calm.

In response, Israel’s military chief ordered a halt to offensive operations in Gaza and said the army would scale back operations in the West Bank as well. But the Palestinians want Israel to go further.